Journal Policies

These policies should be read together with ZENTIME's publisher-level Editorial Policies, Publishing Policies, and Open Access, Fees and Licensing policy. Where journal-specific requirements supplement publisher-level policies, authors should follow both sets of requirements unless otherwise specified.

As a journal focusing on contemporary surgical science and practice, including innovative surgical techniques, minimally invasive and robotic surgery, surgical oncology, perioperative and critical care, surgical outcomes and patient safety, digital and AI-enabled surgery, precision and personalized surgery, translational surgical research, and surgical education and training, the journal requires authors to provide clear, comprehensive, and transparent reporting of relevant clinical, methodological, and technical information. This includes, where applicable, patient characteristics, surgical procedures and techniques, interventions and comparators, perioperative management, study design, outcome measures, complications and safety, statistical methods, data transparency, ethical approval, informed consent, and conflicts of interest.

The journal expects authors, editors, reviewers and editorial board members to follow internationally recognized guidelines and recommendations of responsible scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance issued by  Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the EQUATOR Network, where applicable.

The journal operates a rigorous and consistent peer review process to ensure the quality, integrity, clinical relevance and scientific value of published content.

All submitted manuscripts are first assessed by the editorial office or a handling editor for completeness, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, ethical compliance, reporting quality and suitability for further evaluation. Manuscripts that are outside the journal's scope, do not meet basic reporting standards, lack sufficient originality or raise significant ethical, safety or methodological concerns may be rejected before external peer review.

The journal uses a single-blind peer review model, in which reviewers remain anonymous to authors. Research articles, systematic reviews, clinical studies, pharmacological studies, formulation studies, translational studies and other scholarly manuscripts requiring external review are normally assessed by two or more independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

For manuscripts involving surgical techniques, minimally invasive or robotic surgery, surgical oncology, perioperative and critical care, surgical outcomes, patient safety, digital and AI-enabled surgery, precision surgery, surgical devices, or translational surgical research, editors may invite reviewers with relevant clinical, surgical, technological, methodological, or statistical expertise.

Reviewer comments are advisory. Final editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editor based on editorial assessment, reviewer comments, methodological rigor, originality, ethical compliance, drug safety relevance, clinical or translational significance, and suitability for the journal.

Editorials, commentaries, letters, corrections and invited content may be reviewed internally or externally at the discretion of the editors, according to the nature of the content.

The journal maintains editorial independence in all editorial decisions. Decisions on individual manuscripts are made by the Editor-in-Chief, handling editors or other authorized editorial personnel in accordance with the journal's policies.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, ethical integrity, clinical relevance, surgical significance, patient safety, and translational value. Decisions are not influenced by commercial interests, advertising, sponsorship, institutional affiliations, political considerations, or personal relationships. Editorial decisions are also independent of the financial interests of ZENTIME, journal owners, editors, editorial board members, sponsors, or any third party.

Editors and editorial board members must maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts when their impartiality may be compromised. Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members or journal staff will be handled independently by an editor without conflict of interest and will undergo the same editorial assessment and peer review processes as other submissions.

The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and research integrity. Authors, editors and reviewers are expected to act with honesty, transparency and accountability throughout the submission, review and publication process.

The journal considers plagiarism, redundant publication, duplicate submission, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, authorship manipulation, peer review manipulation, paper mill involvement and other forms of research or publication misconduct unacceptable.

For surgical and clinical research, authors must not misrepresent patient characteristics, surgical procedures or techniques, interventions, treatment outcomes, complications, patient safety data, diagnostic or imaging findings, pathological results, statistical analyses, data derived from surgical devices or technologies, AI-assisted or robotic surgery outcomes, or the involvement of sponsors or other third parties.

Suspected misconduct will be investigated according to the journal's procedures and ZENTIME's publisher-level policies. Depending on the circumstances, outcomes may include a request for clarification, manuscript rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, article removal or notification of relevant institutions or authorities.

All listed authors must have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work, approved the manuscript and agreed to its submission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that authorship, author order, corresponding author details and required declarations have been agreed by all authors before submission.

The journal requires an author contribution statement and encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework where appropriate. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission.

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial competing interests that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the work. In surgical and clinical research, relevant disclosures may include employment, consultancy, advisory roles, honoraria, stock ownership, patents, patent applications, royalties, licensing agreements, surgical device or technology development, medical device or robotic system provision, equipment donation, sponsored clinical studies, data access, statistical support, writing assistance, or other relationships with pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, surgical technology companies, biotechnology companies, healthcare companies, contract research organizations, or other sponsors.

All funding sources, grant numbers, and institutional support should be disclosed. Authors should state the role of funders, sponsors, or commercial partners, where applicable, in study design, surgical technique or intervention development, device or technology provision, participant recruitment, data collection, data access, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit for publication.

Authors should state whether they had full access to the study data and whether the sponsor, funder or commercial partner had any role in approving or restricting publication.

Changes to authorship after submission require a clear explanation, written agreement from all authors and editorial approval.

Research involving human participants, human data, human tissue, skin samples, biological specimens or identifiable clinical information must obtain appropriate ethics approval or exemption where required. Authors should state the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board, approval number or reference number, and any relevant exemption information in the manuscript.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national and international ethical standards. Authors should provide details of ethical approval and animal welfare measures where applicable.

Studies involving surgical interventions or procedures, including invasive or minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery, surgical device or technology-assisted procedures, biopsies, tissue collection, diagnostic imaging, intraoperative imaging, or other clinical interventions, must comply with applicable ethical, regulatory, and patient safety requirements. Studies involving new surgical techniques, medical devices, surgical robots, artificial intelligence-assisted systems, or other emerging surgical technologies should also meet applicable ethical and regulatory standards.

Informed consent should be obtained where required. Written consent for publication is required for identifiable patient information, including clinical photographs, surgical or intraoperative images, videos, imaging studies, pathology images, case details, or other information that could identify an individual. Patient privacy and confidentiality must be protected, and identifying information should not be published unless essential and supported by appropriate informed consent.

Authors should take particular care when reporting rare surgical conditions, unusual anatomical features, pediatric cases, distinctive clinical presentations, or images and videos that may allow direct or indirect identification of patients.

Manuscripts reporting surgical procedures, clinical interventions, surgical techniques, medical devices, robotic or minimally invasive surgery, or other surgical technology studies should provide sufficient information to support appropriate evaluation, interpretation, and reproducibility.

Where applicable, authors should report:

• the name and description of the surgical procedure or intervention;

• the rationale, indications, eligibility criteria, and clinical setting;

• surgical approach, technique, procedural steps, and relevant technical details;

• surgeon experience, training, or level of expertise where relevant;

• type, model, manufacturer, and relevant specifications of surgical instruments, devices, implants, or robotic systems;

• anesthesia, perioperative management, and concomitant treatments where applicable;

• patient selection, baseline characteristics, sample size, and comparator or control group;

• operative time, blood loss, conversion to open surgery, length of hospital stay, and other relevant perioperative parameters where applicable;

• postoperative management, follow-up duration, and adherence to the planned intervention;

• definitions and assessment methods for primary and secondary outcomes;

• postoperative complications, adverse events, reoperation, readmission, mortality, and other safety outcomes;

• modifications or deviations from the planned surgical procedure or study protocol;

• relevant ethical approval, informed consent, trial registration, and data availability information.

  
  

For studies evaluating new surgical techniques, medical devices, robotic systems, artificial intelligence-assisted surgery, digital surgery, or other emerging technologies, authors should clearly describe the technology, system configuration, intended clinical application, operator interaction, validation procedures, and relevant performance and safety outcomes.

Authors should report clinical efficacy, functional outcomes, patient-reported outcomes, quality of life, and safety outcomes transparently, as appropriate to the study design. Where applicable, outcomes should be reported using clearly defined and validated assessment criteria.

For comparative studies, authors should clearly describe the control group, standard surgical procedure, alternative technique, device, or other comparator, including relevant differences in surgical approach, perioperative management, and follow-up.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological and technical information to allow qualified researchers to understand, evaluate, and, where appropriate, reproduce the reported surgical intervention or technology.

Clinical trials and interventional studies involving surgical procedures, surgical techniques, medical devices, implants, robotic or minimally invasive surgery, artificial intelligence-assisted surgery, or other surgical interventions must be registered in a publicly accessible registry before participant recruitment begins where required. The registry name and registration number should be included in the manuscript.

Manuscripts reporting clinical trials should include a data sharing statement where required by applicable guidelines, standards, or journal policy. The statement should indicate whether de-identified individual participant data will be shared, what data will be shared, whether related documents such as the study protocol or statistical analysis plan will be available, the timing and duration of data access, and the conditions for access.

Authors should report surgical complications, adverse events, serious adverse events, reoperations, readmissions, treatment or procedure discontinuations, postoperative mortality, and other clinically relevant safety outcomes clearly and transparently. For studies evaluating surgical devices, implants, robotic systems, or other emerging technologies, authors should also report relevant device-related complications, technical failures, device revisions or removals, and other technology-related safety findings, where applicable.

Authors should follow appropriate reporting guidelines according to study design. Relevant guidelines may include CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, applicable CONSORT extensions for surgical or non-pharmacological interventions, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, STROBE for observational studies, STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies, SPIRIT for trial protocols, TIDieR for intervention reporting, CARE for case reports, ARRIVE for animal studies, and other relevant resources from the EQUATOR Network.

Reporting checklists and flow diagrams should be submitted where required by the journal or the relevant reporting guideline. Authors are expected to provide sufficient methodological, procedural, and technical information to ensure transparent reporting and facilitate the evaluation, interpretation, and reproducibility of surgical research.

Manuscripts reporting preclinical, experimental, in vitro, ex vivo, or other laboratory-based surgical studies should provide sufficient methodological detail to support reproducibility, interpretation, and critical evaluation.

Where applicable, authors should describe:

• cell lines, primary cells, organoids, tissue-engineered constructs, animal models, ex vivo human tissues, or other experimental models used;

• source, authentication, passage number, culture conditions, and contamination testing of cell lines where relevant;

• source, anatomical site, donor or animal characteristics, storage conditions, and ethical acquisition of human or animal tissues where relevant;

• experimental conditions, controls, replicates, randomization, blinding, and sample size considerations where applicable;

• surgical procedures, experimental interventions, operative techniques, instruments, devices, implants, or other technologies used;

• relevant procedural parameters, including intervention duration, technical specifications, operating conditions, and comparator procedures where applicable;

• methods for assessing tissue healing, regeneration, inflammation, biomechanics, physiological function, surgical performance, or other relevant outcomes;

• histological, imaging, molecular, biochemical, biomechanical, or functional assessment methods;

• analytical methods, validation procedures, and limits of detection or quantification where relevant;

• criteria used to define experimental endpoints, treatment success, complications, or technical failure;

• limitations of the experimental model and its relevance to human surgical practice or clinical application.

  
  

For animal studies, authors should follow appropriate animal research reporting standards and describe measures taken to minimize pain, distress, and unnecessary animal use. Authors should also provide sufficient information on anesthesia, perioperative care, humane endpoints, and euthanasia procedures, where applicable.

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement where applicable, describing where the data supporting the findings can be accessed or explaining why data cannot be shared.

Data, study protocols, statistical analysis plans, analytic code, surgical procedure protocols, technical specifications, device information, operative or imaging data, pathological data, and supplementary materials should be shared where ethically, legally, and practically possible.

Restrictions due to privacy, ethics, legal, commercial, intellectual property, confidentiality, or safety reasons should be clearly explained.

For clinical studies, authors should ensure that shared data are appropriately de-identified and consistent with ethics approval, informed consent, and applicable data protection requirements. Special caution is required for clinical photographs, intraoperative images, medical imaging, videos, pathological images, and other visual or audiovisual data that may allow direct or indirect identification of patients.

For studies involving surgical techniques, medical devices, implants, robotic systems, artificial intelligence-assisted surgery, or other surgical technologies, authors should provide sufficient information to allow readers and reviewers to understand and evaluate the intervention or technology, technical specifications, procedural methods, operating parameters, comparator, outcome assessment, and relevant limitations. Where appropriate, information necessary to support reproducibility or independent evaluation should be provided.

Supplementary materials should support the main article and should not replace essential methods, results, safety information, surgical procedures, technical specifications, clinical outcome data, or validation information needed to evaluate the work.

AI tools and large language models cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of all submitted content, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools.

Use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies beyond basic spelling, grammar, or language editing should be disclosed in the manuscript according to the journal's requirements. AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or manipulate clinical data, surgical outcomes, medical images, intraoperative photographs or videos, pathological images, patient records, references, statistical results, or research conclusions.

For manuscripts involving AI-assisted surgery, medical image analysis, robotic surgery, surgical navigation, diagnostic or prediction models, clinical decision support systems, digital surgery, or other AI-enabled surgical applications, authors should describe the intended use, AI system or model, version where applicable, development and validation methods, datasets, data sources, performance metrics, human oversight, limitations, potential risks, and safeguards where appropriate.

Authors should clearly distinguish between original clinical or surgical images, simulated images, AI-generated images, and AI-processed or enhanced images. AI-generated or AI-assisted images must be appropriately described, ethically justified, and transparently disclosed. Any modification of clinical images should preserve the scientific integrity of the original image and must not introduce or remove information in a misleading manner.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts, peer review reports, decision letters or related materials to public AI tools unless explicitly permitted by the journal and consistent with confidentiality and data protection requirements.

The journal considers manuscripts that have been posted as preprints, provided that the work has not been published as a peer-reviewed article and is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Authors must disclose any preprint, conference abstract or presentation, thesis, dissertation, technical report, clinical trial or study registry record, clinical study report, device-related report, or other relevant prior dissemination at submission. Where applicable, authors should provide the preprint server name, DOI, registration number, or link.

If the manuscript is accepted, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record with a citation and link to the final published article where permitted by the preprint server. Duplicate submission and redundant publication are not permitted.

Open Access

The journal is a Gold Open Access journal. All published articles are freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication.

Authors should review the journal's Open Access and Fees page before submission for information on article processing charges, waiver or discount options, copyright, licensing, article sharing and self-archiving.

Copyright

Authors are required to transfer copyright in their accepted manuscript to the journal upon acceptance for publication.

In exceptional circumstances, including where specific institutional or funder requirements apply, authors may contact the editorial office to discuss alternative copyright arrangements.

Licensing

All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

The CC BY 4.0 license permits others to share, copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon the work for any purpose, including commercially, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Article Sharing and Self-Archiving

Authors may share, host and self-archive the published Version of Record in accordance with the CC BY 4.0 license.

Articles may be shared through institutional repositories, personal websites, academic networks and other appropriate platforms, provided that appropriate attribution to the original publication is retained and the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license are respected.

Use of Third-Party and Previously Published Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce or adapt material owned by third parties where permission is required. This includes material previously published by the authors themselves if the copyright is held by another publisher or third party.

Permission may be required for, including but not limited to:

• previously published figures, tables, graphs, charts, schemes, artworks or other content that is reproduced or only slightly modified;

• substantial extracts of text or other material from previously published works;

• photographs, images or other visual materials for which the authors do not hold the necessary rights; and

• the authors' own previously published material where the authors have not retained the relevant copyright or reuse rights.

Authors should obtain all necessary permissions before submitting the manuscript and provide appropriate attribution and permission statements where required.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the use of third-party material complies with applicable copyright, license and permission requirements. Third-party material may not necessarily be covered by the CC BY 4.0 license applied to the article as a whole.

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record. Post-publication updates may include corrections, expressions of concern, retractions or, in exceptional circumstances, article removal where appropriate.

Corrections may be issued for substantive errors that do not invalidate the article. Retractions may be issued when findings are unreliable, affected by serious ethical violations or substantially compromised. Expressions of concern may be issued when serious concerns remain unresolved.

For surgical and clinical research, post-publication concerns may include unreliable or misrepresented clinical or surgical outcomes, unreported complications or safety events, inaccurate descriptions of surgical procedures or techniques, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unreliable statistical or methodological analyses, manipulated clinical, intraoperative, imaging or pathological data, inappropriate use or reporting of medical devices or emerging technologies, fabricated or falsified data, privacy breaches, or other issues that may affect the clinical, surgical, or scientific interpretation of the article.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision or submit a complaint by contacting the editorial office. Appeals should identify specific concerns, such as a possible error in the editorial process, a misunderstanding of the manuscript or evidence that relevant information was not adequately considered.

Submission of an appeal does not guarantee reconsideration, further review or reversal of the original decision. Repeated appeals without new evidence may not be considered. Complaints regarding editorial conduct, peer review, conflicts of interest, confidentiality or publication ethics will be handled fairly, independently and in a timely manner.

Related ZENTIME publisher policies:

• Editorial Policies

• Publishing Policies

• Open Access, Fees and Licensing

Related external standards and resources may include:

• Committee on Publication Ethics

• World Association of Medical Editors

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors

• EQUATOR Network

• CONSORT

• PRISMA

• STROBE

• STARD

• SPIRIT

• TIDieR

• CARE

• ARRIVE